Tempted to Madness
by koswarg
Summary: .:mugen/fuu ficlets:. "Why'd you have to be so stupid?"
1. Selfish

**Title:** Selfish  
**Summary:** Maybe he was selfish.  
**Rating: **PG  
**Words:** 188  
**Warnings: **none

* * *

Surely a girl like her would not think about doing any of the things girls thought about doing with men (whatever _those_ were) with a man like him.

It was just as well, because it certainly wouldn't do her any good.

And even if she wanted to, he wouldn't let her. He would tell her that she was too ugly or too young or too stupid or one of those other excuses he made to keep himself from doing something he might regret.

But he liked having her around, even if he knew it wasn't good for her.

Because maybe he liked the way she looked. Maybe he liked that she was able to eat ten times her own bodyweight. Maybe he liked that face she made when he stole her dango.

Maybe he liked that she trusted him.

The decent part of him (was there any decency left in him? he would like to think so) told him that he should break that trust somehow--better for her to learn a lesson now than to be ruined later.

But he didn't. He wouldn't.

Because he was selfish.


	2. The Promising Kind

**Title:** The Promising Kind  
**Summary:** They had an arrangement, that was all.  
**Rating: **PG-13/T  
**Words:** 252  
**Warnings: **Naughty language.

* * *

They weren't married. Or engaged. Or even fucking _together_.

They had an arrangement, that was all. She could leave whenever she wanted to, and so could he.

It surprised him that she'd agree to such a thing. She was a _samurai's daughter_. He'd always thought that she would go off and marry some pompous noble with tons of money, or some pansy-ass artist, or...someone like that.

Then again, maybe he was underestimating himself. Maybe he was just _that_ damned irresistible. He smirked as this thought entered his head.

She liked to snuggle up to him at night, and he'd learned long ago that fighting her was rather useless. It wasn't that terrible, anyway--though she did snore as loud as anyone he'd ever fucking heard.

"Stay with me," she would say sometimes--usually at night, which was when she always got to thinking too damn much. It wasn't a question or a command. He wasn't sure what it was. Whatever it was, he never answered. Usually he just pretended to be asleep.

He wasn't the promising kind. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, and he didn't have time to be worrying about what everyone else wanted. Especially skinny-ass idiots who thought they knew everything when they knew shit about the real world.

She must've understood it, because she never pressed him about it, or said things like that more than once. If she did, he wasn't sure he could stand to be around her.

She was insufferable enough as it was. 


	3. A Little Longer

**Title:** A Little Longer  
**Summary:** Maybe he'd stay alive a little longer.  
**Rating: **PG-13/T  
**Words:** 204  
**Warnings: **Naughty language. :O

* * *

Why did she have to be such a friggin' idiot?

Cryin' for him was a waste of water. He always knew he'd die, anyway. He'd spent his whole life trying to do it, because he just didn't care. The only reason he stayed alive was to prove that he could, no matter what anyone did to him.

But here she was, cryin' as if the world was gonna miss him.

"Not you, too," she said, in between sobs. Oh, right. Him _too_. He looked to his left, where Jin usually lay when they were recovering from battles like this.

The mat was empty.

"Stop yer blubberin'," he managed to say, even though it hurt to talk. Hell, it hurt to _breathe_. For a moment, she straightened up resolutely, as if she'd been issued a challenge, and he thought that might've done the trick.

Two seconds later she was lying face down on his chest, sobbing even harder.

_Dammit, why can't she just let things be?_

"Don't leave me alone..."

_Fuck_, he thought, heaving a sigh.

Maybe he'd stay alive for a little longer.

"You got anything to eat in this pitiful shack?" he asked, before Fuu's sandal connected with the side of his head. 


	4. Choices

**Title:** Choices  
**Rating:** PG-13/T  
**Summary:** "It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny." -Jean Nidetch**  
Warnings:** naughty language  
**Word Count:** 160

* * *

"Do you believe in destiny, Mugen?" she asked him one day.

He knew better than to answer her whimsical question. She always said shit like this when she got around to thinkin' too much.

He merely scoffed in response.

"What's that mean?" Fuu retorted, looking a bit annoyed. "It was destiny that brought us together, wasn't it?" she snapped.

"Destiny gave me shit," Mugen said angrily. Fuu seemed surprised that she had inspired such a response. "I'm alive because I fucking _choose_ to be, not because of some destiny bullshit."

Fuu fell silent, looking thoughtful.

"Does that mean that you choose to be with me?" she asked earnestly, looking at him with doe-like eyes that made him turn away, lest he become distracted by them.

"Keh. It means whatever the hell you want it to mean."

Fuu couldn't help but smile, because she knew it was the closest he'd ever come to saying he actually hung around her by choice. 


	5. Blood

**Title:** Blood  
**Rating:** R for character death  
**Word Count:** 481  
**Summary:** Mugen loses something precious.  
**A/N:** O hai, I'm not dead. This one is a bit longer than the others. :)

* * *

Blood had never bothered Mugen. He was a killer. It was an everyday part of life, as far as he was concerned. Had been since before he could remember.

But Fuu's blood was something different. Especially since all he could do was stand there helplessly and watch her die.

He wanted to cut something. He wanted to cut _someone_. But cutting the midwife seemed counter-productive, and she was the only person even remotely in range. So he turned to his next talent: being as loud as possible.

"Aren't you supposed to be a fucking expert at this?!"

The midwife ignored him, which he was grateful for - it meant she was focusing her attention on Fuu. But he really, _really_ wanted someone to yell at right now. Or someone to yell at _and_ cut.

After a few more hurled insults and stomping around on Mugen's part, the midwife gave him a weary look.

"You're not helping."

"Neither are you," he retorted, not being able to bring himself to look over at Fuu again.

"Please," she responded.

He glared at her for a moment, but eventually gave in and stepped outside the small cottage that he and Fuu inhabited. Well, the small cottage that Fuu inhabited, and that he happened to co-inhabit sometimes.

He sighed heavily and sunk onto the ground, pacing having lost its appeal. He felt tired. He wondered where fishface was. He ought to be here helping - or something. Jin probably could've handled this better than him, anyway.

Mugen's head jerked up suddenly at the sound of a long, pain-filled scream. He was on his feet immediately, crashing into the cottage and over to where Fuu lay. The midwife blocked his path.

"I could not save the child," she said simply.

"What about--?" He didn't need to finish his question. The look on her face said it all. He pushed her aside, rushing over to kneel next to Fuu.

She was pale, paler than he'd ever seen her. A fine sheen of sweat covered her forehead and her eyes were closed. She seemed to be only sleeping.

"Dammit, Fuu," he swore, shaking her lifeless body, unable to accept her death. "You're not supposed to die, idiot! That's what I'm supposed to do, remember?"

Is this how she felt every time he left to do something stupid?

He wanted her to wake up and yell at him for being so insensitive. He wanted her to hit him with that stupid shoe of hers. He wanted her to ask when lunch was.

Mugen felt a burning sensation behind his eyes and knew that he was crying. It was something he hadn't felt in a long, long time - something he didn't think he'd ever feel again.

He couldn't think of anything else to do. What was there to do, when the only person who cared about him was dead?

* * *

**A/N:** Just to make it clear, all these drabbles/ficlets are unrelated to each other (other than the fact that I wrote them, heh). That is, just because I killed Fuu in this one doesn't mean she'll be dead in the next one. Okay? So no need to worry. :)


	6. Where He Wasn't Looking

**Title:** Where He Wasn't Looking  
**Rating:** PG-13 for language  
**Word Count:** 697  
**Summary:** Mugen and Fuu meet again.

* * *

He hadn't expected to see her working outside a swordsmith's shop - but then, she had a rather annoying habit of turning up where he wasn't looking for her.

"The universe just won't let me get ridda you, will it?" was the first thing he said to her, smirking as he did so.

"Good to see you, too, Mugen," she responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she looked up at him.

"I didn't even know they let girls work in places like this."

She only shrugged, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow. "The owner thinks I'm cute."

"Ya ain't bangin' him, are ya?" he asked, crossing his arms as she met his gaze. "Not that I'd care if ya were."

"Ugh!" she exclaimed. "You're so disgusting sometimes!"

"So...ya feel like buyin' me somethin' to eat?"

--

"So how come yer workin' there and not in a place like this?" he asked, lazily sipping his drink as he gestured around the teahouse.

"I thought it was time for a change," she responded wistfully, fingering the tanto in her lap.

"An' ya couldn't get me outta yer head, couldja?" he cajoled, giving her a toothy grin. "Can't say I blame ya, I'm pretty unforgettable."

Fuu stared at him flatly. "How can such a complete loser be so full of himself?" Mugen simply stuck his tongue out at her before cramming his mouth full of food.

They ate in a companionable silence. After a while, he got the feeling that she was trying to say something, but wasn't quite sure that she should. He ignored her, pretending not to notice as he ate the last of the food.

She really must have had something on her mind, because she made no objection.

She sighed next to him. "I really did miss you, Mugen," she said sincerely, and so quietly that he wasn't so sure she'd said it at all. He paused, holding a piece of squid mid-way between his mouth and the bowl in front of him. He wasn't sure how to respond to her statement, so he remained silent, resting his hands on the table.

He stiffened in surprise when she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. She reached up, taking hold of the hand closest to her.

"Did you miss me, even a little?"

Suddenly, he found it incredibly hard to speak. She took his silence as his answer.

"I guess not. You wouldn't, would you?" she asked sadly. He could feel her smile against his shoulder, even though he could tell from her voice that she was crying.

"Fuu..." he managed finally, not being able to explain to himself why her tears were affecting him so.

"Don't, Mugen," she interrupted, and he thought that she sounded so much more grown-up than when he'd left her. "It's enough that you're here now, even if you will be gone by tomorrow."

"Like hell I will," he responded, suddenly finding his voice, and she pulled her head from his shoulder to look at him questioningly. "I just got a free meal!"

She threw her head back and laughed; a real, genuine laugh, one he hadn't heard in quite some time. He was proud to have been the cause of it.

"Same old Mugen," she said, smiling at him; he felt for all the world like he was special, to be smiled at like that - and by someone like Fuu. She sighed happily, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek - which he thought might have been a little too mushy for him, but he found he didn't mind it so much.

"It's good to have you back, Mugen."

Mugen was about to respond that she didn't "have" him when he felt something hit his leg rather hard.

"The hell?" he said, blinking as sunlight suddenly blinded him - which he found odd, considering he was sitting in a teahouse. He looked beside him, only to discover that he wasn't in a teahouse at all, and Fuu was nowhere to be seen.

"Oi, you can't sleep here, pirate. Get moving."

Mugen waited until the man retreated before sighing to himself. _Every goddamn night this month._

--

**A/N:** Wow, I feel kind of awful for doing that to Mugen.


	7. Why?

What's this, an update?!

**Title:** Why  
**Rating:** R for language  
**Word Count:** 309  
**Summary:** "Why'd you have to be so stupid?"  
**Warnings:** It's kinda depressing. Which for some reason it always is when I write Mugen/Fuu. Oh and also there's lots of swearing, because I love swearing. 

* * *

He aches all over. He doesn't know what the fuck that whore slipped him, but he can barely move a muscle. He's fucked, and he knows it.

Still, she's there, holding that stupid tanto of hers like it's going to do her any good.

"Fuu," he rasps, glad that he can at least manage to speak. "What the fuck are you..."

"Shut up, Mugen," she says, and he can see her legs shaking as she speaks. The goon across from her is smirking, knowing he's already won.

"Get out of here, idiot. No sense in both of us getting cut to pieces." He hopes this reminder of her mortality will knock some sense into her, but still she doesn't budge. There were some guys that wouldn't cut down chicks, Mugen knew, but he could tell that this asshole sure as hell wasn't one of them.

"I'm not leaving you!" she insists, and Mugen curses her for being so stubborn. And stupid.

"Jin will be here soon, so I just..."

The bastard cuts her down before she finishes talking. She's lying next to him now, bleeding profusely from a gash in her chest. Mugen is surprised that the force of his anger doesn't give him the strength to get up and cut the fucker until he's dead. And then cut him some more.

She's looking at him, he realizes. She must mistake the look in his eyes to be directed at her because then she says, "I'm sorry," and Mugen thinks that if he had a heart, it would be breaking.

"Fuu," he says, barely a whisper, though the frustration inside him is so great that he's surprised he's not shouting. "Why'd you have to be so stupid?"

"Why?" she asks, sounding confused, as if the answer is the most obvious thing in the world.

"Because I love you, idiot."

* * *

AND THEN JIN BURSTS IN AND SAVES EVERYONE, OKAY? Normally I hate declarations of ~LOVE~ in fic, but oh well. I'm comfortable with this because Fuu has known for a while that she loves Mugen, I think.


End file.
